Leading through tension: Managing team conflict in an era of constant change
By Sandra Oliver, Impact Founder
Leaders have gone through significant and unrelenting change over the last five or six years from COVID, hybrid work environments, a return to the office, a challenging economy, national and global sociopolitical issues, and most recently, AI.
While there will always be some level of conflict among leadership teams – and conflict is good – this constant external pressure is exacerbating the conflict. It’s creating more misunderstandings, rushed decisions, heightened emotions, and unclear communication.
It’s also amplifying and intensifying personality issues between team members, which can impact our ability to lead together. It makes it tough for us to advance our strategies, stay focused, grow our businesses, and maintain a strong, vibrant culture.
As leaders, we have tools to help make our way through these times of volatile change. Here are three tested approaches that can help shape how we communicate, make decisions, and support our teams, even when the world around us seems uncertain.
1. Recognize that everybody is operating under more intense stress than normal
When we acknowledge that people are under increased pressure, we create space to respond with empathy, rather than frustration. This helps us de-escalate tensions before they can disrupt healthy team dynamics, and even strengthen our connections with the people around us.
This perspective also helps us set more achievable goals and timelines, while still maintaining momentum, so our teams don’t become overwhelmed. And it helps us encourage healthier ways of working, so our teams can sustain performance over time.
2. Assume positive intent
When we give people the benefit of the doubt, we avoid jumping to negative conclusions about people’s motives, which helps build trust across our teams. It allows us to approach situations with greater curiosity, rather than criticism, so people feel heard and discussions remain constructive and collaborative.
When we assume the people around us are just as dedicated to the work as we are, we shift the focus away from blame and toward problem solving.
This helps us maintain a solid foundation to continue to grow our culture and develop our strategic plans.
Leaders also set the tone for how people treat one another. By modelling respect and generosity in how we perceive each other’s intentions, we cultivate a culture where people support each other through challenges and work together to achieve common goals.
3. Lean into the conflict and talk openly and honestly about it
Addressing conflict directly helps us bring issues into the open before they grow into larger problems that can derail our focus and disrupt our progress. Healthy debate encourages diverse perspectives and constructive challenge that helps improve performance.
When we create space for open discussion, our teams are more likely to benefit from sharing valuable knowledge, examining assumptions more closely, identifying risks with greater clarity, and arriving at stronger, more well-informed decisions.
When we engage honestly with conflict, we also encourage transparency and respect for everyone on the team, no matter their role. This helps people feel trusted and valued, even when their opinions differ. We create an environment where disagreement is seen as a path to growth and improvement, rather than something to avoid. And when teams can navigate conflict constructively, they tend to be more resilient and perform better.
Address conflicts and build stronger teams at the same time
Heightened stress and conflict doesn’t mean we can’t fix the issues we’re facing among our teams. In fact, we can address most conflicts, and build stronger relationships at the same time, if we talk about them openly, with a deeper sense of curiosity, and with greater empathy and understanding.
Let’s get started
At Impact, we can help your leadership team navigate the turbulence that change can bring. Let’s get started.
